


i'll color in the picture, if you just draw the lines

by bothsexuals



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Everyone Is Gay, M/M, Pre-Relationship, bi annie, just some fun sweet soft gay shit, lesbian britta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24439687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bothsexuals/pseuds/bothsexuals
Summary: Troy loves to draw, and lately, he's found a new favorite subject. Annie and Britta help him come to terms with what that means.
Relationships: Annie Edison & Britta Perry, Troy Barnes & Annie Edison, Troy Barnes & Annie Edison & Britta Perry, Troy Barnes & Britta Perry, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 20
Kudos: 267





	i'll color in the picture, if you just draw the lines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sweeterthankarma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweeterthankarma/gifts).



> This one is for ao3 user sweeterthankarma specifically, because the idea came to me thanks to her live-texting Community to me, and we decided to make Britta an unrepressed lesbian together. So, here it is, finally, and I hope you love it. I love you! 
> 
> Everyone else, please enjoy! 
> 
> Title from The Regrettes' "Coloring Book" (big trobed vibes in this one).

Troy had always loved to draw, he had done it since he was a kid, his feelings spilling out onto paper in the form of lines and colors, his frustrations personified in monsters, his hopes into heroes. He hadn’t told a lot of people about this passion of his, especially since high school, when Brad from the football team had seen some of his drawings and mocked him. 

Annie knew about it, he had asked if he could draw her once while they were studying and he had grown bored, and she had been so endeared by the gesture that she forgot to scold him for not finishing his homework. Abed knew about it too, Troy had even shown him some of his old comics and they had workshopped them together.

Lately, he had taken to absent-mindedly doodling during classes, a wonderful way to keep himself busy and avoid falling asleep as yet another unqualified teacher pretended to know how to teach. He couldn’t help but notice that one particular subject seemed to always grace the margins of his books, the pages of his notebooks, the old receipts he found in his pockets. It made sense, of course, that his fingers would quite literally ache to draw Abed, the smooth line of his jaw, the subtle curl of his hair, the lovely curve of his lips. It wasn’t like he was able to think about much else, really, so it made sense. 

And so it was that his spanish textbook held a drawing of Abed on almost every page, as Troy’s gaze often bypassed Jeff to focus at Abed during classes, studying all his different expressions, from most subtle to most exaggerated, his hand gestures, from most mechanical to most elegant, his characters, ones he had played, ones Troy wished he would. 

“Cool Batman,” Abed had commented once, glancing down at Troy’s book as he waited for him to gather his stuff. Troy had blushed and thanked him, and hadn’t mentioned that it was his scrawny figure in the costume, his smirk that Troy had spent the whole lesson perfecting. 

Since then, he had been extra careful not to leave the proof of his uncontrollable infatuation for his new best friend laying around for anyone to see. Of course, he had never been the best at stealth, and he had always been quite easily distracted and forgetful, so he was bound to be found out sooner or later. 

“Troy, I left my textbook at home, I’ll just use yours,” Britta said, and Troy absently nodded from the couch of the study room, then his eyes widened as he realized all too late the implications of what he had just allowed to happen. 

“Wait, no!” he exclaimed, jumping up and hurrying to grab the book before she could, but he was too late. 

“Oh, wow,” she breathed, turning page after page.

“Is that… Abed?” Annie asked, sliding the book across the table to get a better look.

“No,” Troy replied unconvincingly. 

“It is!” Annie said, then gazed up at him, a furrow in her brows, “Troy, why is your textbook full of drawings of Abed?”

“It isn’t,” Troy uselessly denied again. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Britta laughed, “come on, Annie, think about it.” 

“Oh,” Annie drew out the sound, the realization hitting her, “Troy, do you have a crush on Abed?”

“No,” Troy replied, not fully lying, because if he was honest with himself, he’d passed the crush stage long ago. 

“So what’s this?” Britta asked, her lips curved in a knowing smirk as she raised the book to show a drawing of Abed, a soft lopsided smile on his face, hearts surrounding him. 

“Aww!” Annie chimed in unhelpfully. 

“I don’t know who that is,” Troy scrambled, panicking, “I didn’t do it. That’s not my book.” 

“Troy, it’s okay,” Annie said sweetly, “you can tell us.” 

“Yeah, it’s totally normal to draw the person you like,” Britta added, “I painted my first girlfriend as a way of asking her out.” 

“I’m not- I’m not gay,” Troy mumbled. 

“Dude,” Britta laughed, “I think you might be.” 

Annie shot her a pointed look, and took over as Britta raised her arms defensively. 

“Troy, it’s okay,” she reassured him, “we have your back. And I might be biased, but if you and Abed started dating that would be the _cutest_ thing.” 

“Also, I’m gay,” Britta offered, wanting back into the conversation, “just don’t tell Pierce, I’d hate for him to think he’s right about anything.” 

“And I think I might be bi,” Annie said with a blush, then with a quiet gasp added, “wow, I’ve never said that before.”

Britta smiled graciously at her. “I’m so proud of you,” she said, extending her arm towards Annie.

Annie returned the smile and placed her hand in Britta’s open palm. 

“Okay,” Troy sighed, sitting down in Jeff’s usual seat, “I don’t think I’ve ever really liked girls, and I think I might be falling in love with Abed,” he rushed the words out, worried they’d be stuck inside forever if he didn’t.

Annie extended her other hand towards Troy, and he took it, a bashful smile on his face. 

“That’s great, Troy,” she said, her voice sweeter than honey, “I’m so proud of you.”

“I can’t be-” he paused, unable to say the word just yet, “my parents will kick me out.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with being gay,” Britta said, taking Troy’s other hand in hers, “and if they can’t love you because of that- all due respect- they’re idiots and they don’t deserve you. And we’re your family now. You can stay at my place.” 

Annie nodded, “Or mine.” 

“You guys, I never cry, but-” tears started flowing from Troy’s eyes, and both Britta and Annie stood up to wind their arms around him. He gripped their arms, holding them close as he sobbed.

“I’m okay,” he said once he had calmed down, and nodded as he let go of them. They sat down again, Annie electing to sit in the usually empty chair next to Jeff’s so that she could maintain her grip on Troy’s hand. 

“Can we like-” Troy reached out for Britta’s hand as well, and she took it without hesitation “-can we all say it? So maybe I don’t feel so-” he trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence. _Weird. Wrong. Alone._

“Yeah, sure, we can have an LGBT Anonymous moment,” Britta replied with a smile, then stood up, her hand still in Troy’s. “Hi, I’m Britta and I’m a lesbian,” she declared proudly. 

Annie stood up after her, and announced in the same tone, “Hi, I’m Annie, and I’m bisexual.” 

They smiled at each other, then looked down at Troy. 

“You can do it,” Annie encouraged him, squeezing his hand. 

Troy nodded and stood up, slowly. 

“Hi,” he said, his voice shaky, “I’m Troy, and… I’m gay.” 

He let out a long, relieved breath as Britta and Annie came to hug him again, and he was incredibly thankful for their doing so, unsure as he was that he wouldn’t drop to the floor if they weren’t holding him up.

“God, this is such a Hallmark movie moment,” he mumbled tearfully. 

“Please,” Britta scoffed, “they’d never have this many gay people in a room.” 

Troy let out a loud laugh, and held them both tighter.

“Oh god, I’m gay. It’s like, official now, what do I have to do? Do I have to start wearing rainbow underwear?” 

“Uh, duh, yes, we all should,” Britta replied, “but you don’t really have to do anything differently, man. Other than like, asking Abed out.” 

“Agreed,” Annie nodded,” but take your time, you did _just_ come out. There’s no rush.” 

“Yeah, that,” Britta mumbled, “the smart and sensible thing.” 

Troy nodded, feeling an overwhelming sense of both clarity and confusion. 

“These are really good, by the way,” Annie said, pointing to his textbook, which was still open on a page of Abed drawings.

“Wait, I saw a _really_ cute one before…” Britta unraveled from the embrace to skim through the book. Annie kept her grasp on Troy’s arm as they all leaned down to comment on different drawings, appreciating the occasional appearances the two of them made as well.

“Hey.” Annie widened her eyes and briskly shut the book at the sound of Abed’s voice. “What are you guys doing?” he asked, his brows knit together in confusion at the arrayed state his friends were in. 

“Nothing,” Britta replied a little too loudly to be believable, “we were just…” 

“Talking about the…” Annie continued. 

“Drawings I made of you,” Troy finished. “Damn it,” he exclaimed, “why did you let me finish?” 

“You drew me?” Abed curiously asked, stepping closer, “Can I see?” 

Troy shot an alarmed look at Britta, who shrugged agitatedly, then at Annie, who was anxiously worrying at her lip. He slipped her hand in hers, searching for an anchor to hold him down. 

“I’ll show you later,” he told Abed softly, “okay? I’ll come by your dorm.” 

“Okay,” Abed agreed with a small smile, “I’m excited. I like your drawings.” 

_Are you sure?_ Britta mouthed while Abed was putting his stuff down and settling into his usual place. Troy nodded, giving both girls a reassuring smile. 

“Hey, do you wanna see the film I’m working on?” Abed asked, already turning on his laptop. 

“Uh, duh,” Troy excitedly replied, and skipped over to his friend, dragged his chair to be right beside Abed’s and sat down, so close their shoulders were touching. 

Annie and Britta joined them after a while, stood behind them and hunched over to look at the screen. Abed paused the film every now and then to point something out to Troy, who intently listened with a dreamy look in his eyes. 

“That’s really good,” Troy commented once they were done, resting his hand on Abed’s forearm, and his heart skipped a beat at the small smile Abed gave as he thanked him. 

“I have class,” Abed said after a beat, gathering his things, “we’ll meet at my dorm after?” 

Troy nodded and they said goodbye with a handshake, then Abed waved at Annie and Britta and left the study room. 

“What are you gonna do?” Annie asked, sitting down next to Troy. 

“I’m not sure.” He pressed a hand to his leg to stop it from bouncing anxiously. “I’ll just… show him the drawings.”

“Dude, what does that mean?” He turned to look at Britta, whose eyes were wide with curiosity. 

He breathed in deeply. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to tell him if you’re not ready,” Annie cut in, grabbing his hand again, “you don’t have to show him those drawings.” 

“No, it’s okay,” Troy answered, turning their hands over on his lap and staring at them, “I think I want to tell him. It feels… good to be honest about this.” 

“That’s ballsy,” Britta commented. 

“I’m very proud of you, Troy,” Annie said, “I wouldn’t have expected this level of maturity from you last year.” 

“What about this level of gayness?” he tentatively joked. 

She tilted her head and tapped her chin pensively, “Hmm… maybe,” she concluded. 

Troy perked up excitedly, “Hey, it feels good to not repress my sexuality! I can make a whole new bunch of jokes now!” 

“Yeah, and also be true to yourself or whatever,” Britta added. 

“Yeah, sure, that.” Troy waved his hand dismissively. “Mostly the jokes.”

Annie gasped, “Guys, are we, like, an LGBT club now? Should we get matching t-shirts? Do LGBT-themed movie nights?”

“Matching rainbow underwear,” Troy corrected her, “and yes.” 

“We can watch _But I’m a Cheerleader_!” Britta animatedly proposed. 

“Oh, or _Imagine me and you_!” Annie added, then they both looked at Troy expectantly. 

“Am I supposed to say a movie now? I don’t know gay movies, guys, I was repressing this until an hour ago.” 

Britta rolled her eyes in faux annoyance, “Fine, we’ll google something.” 

“Maybe Abed will recommend something,” Annie offered with a smirk. 

Troy felt his cheeks heat up at the implications of such an idea. “Maybe,” he agreed. 

“So, Troy,” Britta said, sitting down next to Annie, “when did you start liking Abed?”

“Well, I started liking him the moment he told me we were paired up for that spanish project,” he replied, “but I think I realized I had a big gay crush on him around Halloween. Something about that Batman voice, I guess.” Annie nodded in understanding, while Britta’s face scrunched up in confusion. “I asked him if I was good-looking that night,” he recalled with a smile. 

“What did he say?” Annie asked with wide eyes. 

Troy’s brows knit together in concentration as he put on a Batman-like voice. “You’re a very attractive young man,” he recited. 

“Oh, hell yeah, dude, you’re in!” Britta fist bumped the air enthusiastically. 

“I don’t know, man, that was Batman, not Abed,” Troy reasoned.

“I’m pretty positive that Abed agrees,” Britta shrugged.

Troy bit his lip, his leg once again starting to bounce quickly without him even noticing. Annie slipped her hand out of his and placed it on his knee, which brought his attention to what he had been doing. He forced his leg to still, taking a couple of deep breaths while Annie moved her hand back into his. 

“Can I be honest with you guys?” Britta and Annie both nodded seriously, and he continued, “I’ve never felt this way before. It’s kind of terrifying, but also, kind of awesome?” He punctuated the last words with a slight tilt of his head and a smile. “I just want to be around him all the time, and when I am I just want to… look at him and listen to him and… touch him and _kiss him_.” He let go of Annie to hide his face in his hands with a groan. “God, I can hear Shirley praying for us from here.” 

“Troy, first of all, you’re adorable and I can’t wait for you and Abed to get married and make tiny little nerd babies,” Britta said, and Annie mumbled something about her going a little fast, but she carried on, “second of all, if Shirley or anyone else has an issue with you being gay, that’s their problem and it’s stupid.” 

“Plus, you don’t have to tell anyone else right away,” Annie added. 

“Yeah, and if you do decide to tell them, you’re not alone. I’ll tell everyone, too!” Britta’s face fell after a moment and she shuddered. “Oh, god. I think Pierce said something about having a speech ready for when I come out.” 

“That’s terrifying,” Troy said, “I hope he doesn’t have one for me.” 

“Or me,” Annie agreed with a frown. 

Troy glanced at the clock on the wall. 

“Okay, I love you guys, but Abed’s class is almost done and I’ve gotta beat him to his dorm so he owes me a Twix.” 

Annie and Britta both laughed, and pulled him into a final hug before letting him go, wishing him good luck until he was out of earshot. 

Troy walked to the dorms with a skip in his step, his body trembling with excitement, anxiety, and about a hundred more undecipherable emotions. He stopped in front of Abed’s door, leaning against it in the coolest, Jeff-like way he could muster, and waited for his best friend.

“Hey, Troy,” Abed said upon showing up a couple of minutes later, and pulled a Twix out of his pocket to hand it to Troy. 

“Thank you!” Troy smiled and opened the packet, giving Abed one of the bars as he let them into the dorm. “How was class?”

“Boring,” Abed replied, “how was studying with Annie and Britta?”

Troy’s eyes widened slightly, thinking about everything that had come out that afternoon- literally.

“...Interesting,” he settled on saying. 

“Movie?” Abed asked, pointing towards his DVDs while Troy sat on the couch.

“No... Abed, come here.” 

Abed’s brows furrowed at the intensity in Troy’s eyes and voice, and he sat beside him on the couch. Troy took a deep breath and handed him a notebook which contained some of his tamer, less obvious about his big gay crush drawings. Abed leafed through it, curiously inspecting the pictures he found. 

“Those are really good, Troy,” he said, a small smile on his face, “did you think they weren’t? Is that why you’re so nervous?”

Troy shook his head and took another deep breath. He handed him his spanish textbook, where he really went for it with the longing and lovesick doodling of hearts around pictures of Abed. 

“Here,” he mumbled, “this is why.”

Abed turned page after page, then paused and frowned, looking at Troy.

“I don’t get it,” he said. 

“Abed, in movies or TV shows or whatever, what does it mean when a character draws another one over and over?” 

“Well.” Abed considered this carefully. “Either they’re an artist who was commissioned to paint them, or they’re in love with them. Or sometimes, both.” 

Troy let out a nervous laugh.

“Well, I’m not an artist,” he said in a small voice. 

Abed’s features relaxed as he was hit by the realization of what those words implied.

“Oh.” 

“Yeah,” Troy replied, “ _oh_.” 

“I don’t know what to say,” Abed mumbled, tracing the outline of a drawing with his fingers. 

“You don’t have to say anything,” Troy reassured him, “I just wanted you to know.” 

And it was true. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off him, and he didn’t need a reply right away. He just needed to know Abed still wanted him around, however that may be.

“Thank you,” Abed whispered, looking up at him. 

Troy ached to reach out and touch him, but he stopped himself, unsure of how comfortable Abed would be with physical contact at that moment. He looked a little overwhelmed already, and Troy would never want to make things tougher for him. 

Instead, he simply smiled, hoping the affection he felt for Abed would show on his face. He was almost sure it would, as it always did when Abed was around, a force too powerful for him to hold inside, threatening to pour from his eyes and seep through his skin. 

He watched as Abed observed his drawings, studying each one carefully, and his heart hammered in his chest. 

“I like this one,” Abed said, and Troy’s gaze followed his finger to the drawing he was pointing at, a drawing of the two of them, Troy’s head resting on Abed’s shoulder, their arms linked together. He’d drawn that the day after they had watched _Star Wars_ together in Abed’s dorm, ending up in that exact position. 

“Me too,” he agreed. 

Abed looked at him, then. Troy looked back. He wished they were telepathic, wished he could tell Abed every word that got stuck in his mouth whenever he looked at him that way. 

Abed looked down again. Troy followed his gaze. 

Their hands lay on the couch, inches apart from each other. He ached to reach out and touch Abed. He didn’t.

A few seconds passed, and he saw a slight movement in Abed’s hand, almost like trembling. He couldn’t tear his eyes away. Abed’s hand moved as if in slow-motion, inching closer and closer, until it was covering Troy’s own. Troy turned his hand around, so that his palm was facing toward Abed’s. Abed interlaced their fingers. 

Troy looked up again, knowing the hope he felt in his heart was showing on his face as clear as day. As he stared into Abed’s eyes, he recognized that same hope, and dared to squeeze his hand a little tighter.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed that, if you did, please leave a comment and/or kudos, because one comment and/or kudos = one drawing of Abed by Troy.


End file.
